South Africa win Test & level series 1-1

South Africa 7/423d def England 180 and 169 ( 42.5 ov, P Collingwood 71, M Morkel 4/59) by an innings & 74 runs T4 D3 at Johannesburg. South Africa retain Basil d'Oliviera trophy by virtue of drawing series 1-1 (with 2 draws)

South Africa deserved to win this match and level the series. They were clearly the better team in 3 of the 4 contests and in this game kept the pressure on until the last ball was bowled.

Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn enhanced their reputations as quality bowlers. The batters, Ashwell Prince excepted, did well. And Jaques Kallis, despite the passage of the years, remained a high quality all rounder.

It was a good series, though the two cliffhanging draws which kept England in the series threatened an injustice. Fortunately the Proteas' strength (internal as well as external) prevailed.


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England falter in face of large South African total: T4 D3

England 180 & 3/48 (13.2 ov) trail South Africa 7/423d (119 0v, G Smith 105, M Boucher 95, H Amla 75, A B deVilliers) 58 by 195 runs with 7 wickets in hand: T4 D3 at Johannesburg.

On another day curtailed by weather and bad light South Africa tightened its already firm grip on the game to the point where it's hard to see how it can lose. There was a temporary check when they lost 3 good wickets early in the day for 18, including Hashim Amla (who added only 2 to his overnight score) for 75/ 138b (8x4). Thereafter AB deVilliers with a measured 58/119b (5x4) and Mark Boucher got things back on track adding 120 for the 6th. Boucher continued in aggressive vein with Ryan McLaren before he was caught pulling the first ball of a new Graeme Swann spell for 95/118b (9x4). Soon afterwards Graeme Smith declared leaving England a stiff challenge to avoid an innings defeat,

Once again Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel showed how good they are by taking a top order wicket apiece. After a break Wayne Parnell took his first Test wicket - not a bad one at that - Andrew Strauss lbw for 22, leaving England 3/48 and a draw (and bad weather) to play pray for. South Africa deserve to win this one.

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South Africa again start well: T4D1

South Africa 0/29 (12ov) trail England 180 (47.5 ov, D Steyn 5/51) by 151 runs on first innings: T4 D1 at Johannesburg.

Andrew Strauss won the toss, chose to bat and was dismissed first ball, well caught at short leg off Dale Steyn. It didn't get much better for them after that as Morne Morkel reduced them to 4/39 (including another Kevin Pietersen failure) before Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell provided some respite by adding 76 before Steyn worked through the lower order.

180 was a disappointing total. It was England's decision to bat, though, and despite favourable conditions for bowlers few excuses can be made for a performance as modest as this. Steyn 5/51 from 13.5 ov and Morkel 3/39 from 11 did what their team required of them.

South Africa survived a dozen overs before the weather curtailed proceedings for the day. They will be looking for a big first innings lead. England will hope that their reconstituted attack, with Ryan Sidebottom replacing Graham Onions will be able to take a few leaves out of the Steyn - Morkel book. But after the recent Sydney Test it's too early to call.

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Tales of two Tests #4: one close finish?

2 x First Test(s), Day 4

At Johannesburg: Australia 466 and 207 (53.4 ov, P Hughes 75, J Kallis 3/22, M Ntini 3/52) v South Africa 220 and 2/178 (55ov, G Smith 69. H Amla 43*)

In yet another second-half-of-match resurgence South Africa have bowled Australia out cheaply, despite Phil Hughes' assertive 75/121b, and begun to chase 454 in a manner which must have given them reason to believe that they can win. The Australians are still notionally in the better position, but so much of their D4 batting was inept and their bowling non-threatening that they, and the viewers at home who have been bombarded by Fox Sports' continual reminders of the Proteas' fourth innings 4/414 to win the Perth Test last December, probably have the collywobbles.

Give due credit though to South Africa though for bowling so well, especially Jacques Kallis's game changing 3 (Ponting. Hussey, Clarke)/22 from 5 overs, and to the batters for setting out on their long journey without appearing to be overawed by the size of their task.

The first session of D5 will possibly decide the outcome: you won't be surprised to learn that I'll be glued to the box.

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At Bridgetown: England 6/600 dec and 0/6 (2 ov) v West Indies 9/749 dec (194.4 ov, R Sarwan 291, D Ramdin 166, S Chanderpaul 70, D Smith 55, J Taylor 53, G Swann 5/165, J Anderson 3/125 )

A draw is by far the likeliest outcome here after Ramnaresh Sarwan's massive 291/452b (30x4, 2x6), Dinesh Ramdin's impressive (and a tad surprising after his recent form) 166/268b (20x4) and some solid contributions from others gave the home side a 149 run first innings lead.
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For the record, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are also playing a Test match at the moment. It's receiving little coverage here (why can't Foxtel show at least some highlights?) so the easiest way to keep abreast of developments is to follow the scorecard and related matter on Cricinfo.

Tales of two Tests #3: RSA v Aus, WI v Eng

2 x First Test(s), Day 3

At Johannesburg: Australia 466 and 1/51 (16.3 ov) v South Africa 220 (37 ov, A B de Villiers 104*, M Johnson 4/25, P Siddle 3/76)

At Bridgetown: England 6/600 dec v West Indies 5/398 (109ov, R Sarwan 184*, S Chanderpaul 70, D Smith 55, G Swann 3/92 )

It was Australia's day again at Jo'burg. South Africa, A B de Villiers excepted, could neither get on top of the inexperienced Australian attack nor capitalise on some fielding lapses.

Mitchell Johnson's 18.1 - 7 - 25 - 4 has put him well ahead of the field in the contest for Player of the Match. His only challengers to date look like A B de Villiers, who'd need to repeat his doggedly combative lone hand 104/185b (9x4, 1 x6) in the second innings, or Marcus North, who's showed his batting class and bowling potential.

At the other end of the performance scale both teams' batting was uneven. Six Australians contributed 16 runs out of 466, while six Proteas contributed only 5!

Australia are unquestionably on top, though South Africa's recent history of second innings recoveries and the threatening weather which curtailed play today, may make it harder to translate the present scorecard advantage into a victory.

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Rose early to watch the Windies fight their way back from 3/159 at Barbados. Ramnaresh Sarwan's masterful 184*/280b (19x4, 2x6) which was well supported by his teammates (only one of whom has so far not posted double figures) has saved the follow on (well, 2 runs are needed but 5 wickets are in hand) and thereby increased the likelihood of a draw.

Sarwan will be worth watching to see how many runs he can add. The Bridgetown pitch looks easier to bat on than the Jo'burg one but 184 with probably more to come is a good score anywhere.

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Referrals

Both matches have seen some problems with the system of referrals to the TV umpire.

In Jo'burg the technology feed to the official (though not the rest of the world) failed at one point and there were some other eyebrow raising moments.

One Cricinfo report has described the situation in Bridgetown as "umpiring chaos" , while another more diplomatically refers to "teething troubles" of the system. No doubt the TV news grabs will highlight these incidents at the expense of the good non-controversial passages of play.

Tales of two Tests #2: RSA v Aus, WI v Eng

2 x First Test(s), Day 2

At Johannesburg: Australia 466 (125.4 ov, M North 117, M Johnson 96*, R Ponting 83, M Clarke 68, B Haddin 63, D Steyn 4/113, M Morkel 3/117) v South Africa 3/85 (37 ov)

At Bridgetown: England 6/600 dec (153.2 ov, A Strauss 142, R Bopara 104, P Collingwood 96, A Cook 94, T Ambrose 76*, F Edwards 3/151) v West Indies 1/85 (R Sarwan 40*)

In each match the team batting second ended the second day with 85 runs on the board in pursuit of their respective opponents' large, perhaps unexpectedly large, totals.

At Jo'burg Marcus North and Mitchell Johnson took Australia well beyond the commentators' par 350 to an impressive, perhaps even surprising, 466. North continued in his day one, very assured, vein as he moved his score methodically to 117/ 233b (12x4) and his team's from 151 to 413.

When he was out the tail, if that collective noun still accurately describes Johnson, wagged. A
Paul Harris over from which Johnson took 26 was the high (or low, depending on your allegiance) point of a 53run/28b 9th wkt partnership.

Then, in a cruel reversal of fortune, the hitherto unimpressive Morne Morkel dismissed Peter Siddle caught at second slip off consecutive deliveries, (the first of which was a no-ball) and Ben Hilfenhaus off the subsequent one, leaving Johnson high and dry with a magnificent 96* /131b (10x 4, 5x6).

Mark Waugh in the Foxtel studio had earlier stated his opinion that Johnson was a top notch allrounder who would score more than one Test century. The first of these should have come today, but there will surely be others.

South Africa batted and wilted in the face of this recovery. Johnson (Player of the match?) and Hilfenhaus dismissed Graham Smith and Hashim Amla for 0 and 1 respectively: 2/2. Neil McKenzie and Jacques Kallis plugged the leaks a little but didn't bail hard enough as the latter, having scored his 10,000th Test run, fell to Siddle: 3/49.

A stumps score of 3/85 at least raises the prospect of the Proteas saving the follow on. As I type this I realise that Australia were in a similar position, so I'll hold my peace for now.

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I didn't watch the live telecast from Barbados for long enough to see England move to what looks on paper an invincible.position (even though this week's Pakistan - Sri Lanka match suggests that everything might not yet be resolved).

Nor did I see enough of the highlights to comment on the England batting, especially Ravi Bopara's 104/143b or Paul Collingwood's 96/159b, but I did see the sequence of replays which resulted in the TV umpire confirming (or advising his colleague in the middle) that James Anderson's lbw appeal/ challenge to the initial decision was justified. From the side on replay the delivery looked to me like a no ball. I've not checked to see what other commentators have said. Whatever they do the scorecard shows C Gayle lbw Anderson 6.

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Tales of two Tests: RSA v Aus and WI v Eng Day 1

2 x First Test(s), Day 1

At Johannesburg: Australia 5/254 (68 ov, R Ponting 83, M Clarke 68, M North 47*, B Haddin 37*, D Steyn 3/82) v South Africa

At Bridgetown: England 3/301 (90 ov, A Strauss 142, A Cook 94) v West Indies

It was a long night's viewing for insomniac cricket tragics in these parts. I didn't make it much beyond the early close of play in Jo'burg. This produced the more even contest, despite being curtailed by slow over rates and, eventually, bad light.

Australia won the toss, batted , faltered though recovered first through Ricky Ponting 83/134b and Michael Clarke 68/90b, then debutant Marcus North 47*/90b and Brad Haddin 37*/48b.
Tightly as the South Africans bowled, they'd probably feel that they failed to capitalise on the good start of 3/38.

The radio commentators thought that 350 would be a good score on this wicket, and the track record of The Wanderers ground supports them. 350 is still not beyond Australia, especially if North and Haddin, with support from the others, can continue to bat as they did today.

No excuses for not watching attentively tonight!

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In Barbados, where the conditions permitted the full 90 overs quota to be bowled, an opening partnership of 229 between Andrew Strauss 142/210b (18x4, 1x6) and Alistair Cook 94/187b (9x4, 1 x6), put England on top.

If the West Indies can claw their way back into the match in the first session I'll try to stay awake a little longer than I did last night.

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